About 11:15 p.m. Nov. 14, 2010, he drove his Ford F-250 pickup into Caltrans worker Gary Smith at a roadblock on Highway 99 north of Chico, at a speed of around 60 mph.

Smith had been called to the scene to divert traffic from another fatal crash farther north that had killed three people.

Hodge drove on after hitting Clark until he reached the other crash scene, where he was arrested. He was apparently unaware he'd hit Clark.

He had a blood alcohol level of .20 percent. The legal limit for intoxication is .08 percent.

Gary Smith's family and Caltrans workers were in court Thursday for the guilty plea and expressed satisfaction with the guilty plea, according to District Attorney Mike Ramsey.

Hodge will be sentenced Feb. 28. He agreed to state prison time as part of the plea bargain.

The first accident had also been caused by a drunken driver from Corning. Robert Edward Barnes, 26, pleaded July 17 of last year to second-degree murder in that case.

Barnes was arrested after his northbound Dodge pickup collided with a southbound GMC Sonoma pickup at 5:49 p.m. on 99 near Broyles Road, south of the Butte-Tehama county line.

Three people in the GMC were killed: Rogelio Herrera, 29; Sarai Alvarez, 31; and one of Alvarez's children, Cristian Zaizar.

Barnes also pleaded guilty to a felony count of drunken driving causing injury with priors for injuring Emanuel Zaizar Alvarez. He also admitted two prior DUI convictions from Tehama County.

His blood alcohol content was tested at 0.17 percent.

As part of the change of plea, the prosecution moved to dismiss two additional counts of second-degree murder, three counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated with two prior convictions, transportation of marijuana and possessing it for sale.

He was sentenced in September to 19 years to life.

"Four innocent lives were lost on Highway 99 that night" Ramsey said in a press release. "The two men responsible, both who knew better than to be driving while intoxicated because each had prior DUI convictions, will be serving life sentences.

"We sought the maximum sentences in each of these cases to demonstrate the madness has to stop. We cannot tolerate the carnage caused by drinking drivers, particularly those who have prior convictions."